Craig Ferguson Compliments Leno, Then Makes Fun of Him: Watch

Craig Ferguson worked a comment about Jay Leno into his “Late Late Show” monologue Thursday night that was complimentary at first.

But then, Craig mercilessly mimicked the NBC late-night king.

“President Obama is going to appear on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’,” Ferguson said in his monologue on CBS. “That’s going to be awesome — the most powerful man in the country is going to interview President Obama! That’s going to be fantastic!”

That was the part that flattered Leno. But moments later, Ferguson launched into a high-pitched impersonation of Leno’s voice interviewing the President. It’s the same kind of imitation David Letterman does sometimes when he pokes fun at Jay.

Then, Ferguson’s robotic sidekick, Geoff, chimed in with a high-pitched Leno voice of his own in which he imitated Leno interviewing Obama and saying, “Hey, I voted for you, and then seven months later, I took it back!” It was a reference to Leno’s relinquishing of “The Tonight Show” to Conan O’Brien in 2009 and then getting the show back in winter 2010.

Thursday night’s impersonation aside, Leno and Ferguson seem to enjoy a warm relationship. Ferguson was a guest on “The Tonight Show” just last March and then again in May. Leno was on Ferguson’s show last October.